Photo by Lester Smith
As folks gather for the public fundraiser run/walk in her honor, Kyla Pokorney chats with Katie Culliton, one of her nurses at the Children’s Medical Center in Hartford. Kyla is holding little Clarabelle Kranz, 2, for whom she has baby-sat.
About 150 compassionate folks gathered on August 28 by the Suffield Country Club pool on a lovely summer Sunday morning to honor Kyla Pokorney and support her work with an organization called “Vie for the Kids.” The 10-year-old foundation supports clinical trials at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, working toward a cure for childhood cancer. Kyla, now 19, is now in her fifth program of chemotherapy fighting a form of bone cancer called Ewing’s sarcoma, seen most often in adolescents and diagnosed in Kyla when she was 14.
Kyla had a period of remission, and after graduating from Enfield High School she entered UConn as a Phillips Scholar planning for a career as a pediatric oncology nurse. Unfortunately, she was able to attend for only a month before the disease returned.
Chairman Debora Reynolds said this fundraiser was the second annual Kyla’s Krusaders event. To accommodate many abilities, participants were offered two choices: The first was a 5K run down Main Street with a turn onto Willow Creek plus a side trip down Marbern Drive on the return to the Country Club. The alternative task was a 3K walk up Main Street to Russell Avenue, then back down to the Marbern Drive side trip and return to the start. Everyone then enjoyed a nice luncheon at the Sunset Tavern at the Country Club, donated by proprietor Sam Karagiannis.
In total, Kyla’s Krusaders collected $2,600 this year. When she is able, Kyla likes to comfort or assist other patients at the Children’s Medical Center, and she planned to use the funds from this event to prepare patient survival kits.